Israeli authorities announced, on Tuesday, March 19, that a security closure will be imposed on the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip for a period of four days bracketing the Jewish festival of Purim (Thursday and Friday of this week). The four-day closure, to be imposed only on Palestinians from the territories, but not on Israelis traveling to an from these areas, started at midnight local time between Tuesday and Wednesday and will end at midnight between Saturday and Sunday).

The Trump administration and its supporters continue to put out utterly false information about immigrants and refugees in the United States. But the immigrants’ rights movement is fighting back hard in the streets, in Congress and in the court of public opinion.

Editor’s Note: The article below is a submission to the CPUSA’s preconvention discussion. Comments are welcome.

Recent developments both favor and require we: RECOMMIT TO COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL UNITY! The documents opening our pre-convention discussion are in our best tradition, encouraging contributions. The draft program is strong on growing threats from environmental dangers and wars.

On February 22, Algerians took to the street for protesting President Bouteflika's intention for going for another mandate despite the political crisis of the regime, high levels of corruption and his own health problems. On March 11, Bouteflika announced that he will not run for the presidency in the upcoming elections that he arbitrarily postponed. As manifestations continue with enthusiasm, the President's step back does not seem to ease the people's rage against the regime.

On Sunday, March 10, thousands of people gathered in İstanbul's Kartal Square for the rally of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), chanting the slogans "If money has its reign, working people have their Communist Party" and "We are not in the same boat". TKP, as the one and only political party that truly represents the working people of Turkey in the upcoming local elections on March 31, has already launched its electoral campaign in all 81 provinces of Turkey, 85 districts and 2 towns with its mayoral candidates and municipal councils.

Communist candidate Dr. Ofer Cassif, today said he believes the decision to ban him from participating in the upcoming general election is fueled by the right-wing’s desire to eliminate Jewish-Arab cooperation.

Speaking to Middle East Monitor, Cassif said the Central Elections Committee deliberately targeted him in its decision to ban him from contesting the upcoming election on April 9 because of the potential for Jewish-Arab cooperation that his candidacy represents. “Of course the main victims of the right-wing’s policy are the Palestinian citizens of Israel,” he explains, “but civil society, the media, the courts and academia are also coming under attack by the fanatic right-wing.”

“Israel’s Central Elections Committee is a political body that operates in overt contradiction of the law and court rulings in order to humiliate Arab candidates,” said Atty. Hassan Jabareen, general director of Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

Jabareen was responding to the committee’s disqualification last Wednesday, March 6, of leading Communist activist, Dr. Ofer Cassif, from the Hadash-Ta’al list, as wells as its barring the entire National Democratic Assembly (Balad) – United Arab List (Ra’am) from running in the April 9 parliamentary elections in Israel.

A week after the Attorney General’s decision to indict far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, several surveys conducted by the Israeli media indicate a reversal in the neck and neck race between the blocs, with 61 seats now predicted for the center and left, as opposed to 59 for the right.

CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy issued the following press communiqué at a press meet in New Delhi on March 8, 2019 after the conclusion of the two-day National Executive meeting held in New Delhi on March 6 and 7:

The National Executive discussed in detail the present economic and political situation in the country as well as the role of the secular, democratic forces in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections of 2019. The meeting unanimously underlined the need for ousting the anti-people, anti-working class, divisive and communal RSS-BJP controlled NDA government led by Narendra Modi. The meeting also noted in unequivocal terms the urgent need to save the Indian economy which is in deep crisis and save our Constitution from the clutches of the fascistic forces which have surrendered the economy and the country to the forces of neo-liberalism and anti-nationalism. The meeting held that uprooting of the Modi government, replacing it with a secular democratic progressive government in which the Left has an enhanced say is the need of the hour. Swapan Banerjee presided over the National Executive meeting of the CPI.

The Knesset’s Central Election Committee voted on Wednesday, March 6, to disqualify from participating in the upcoming April 9 general elections the combined Arab slate of Balad-United Arab List. While the committee approved the participation of the Hadash-Ta’al ticket in the elections, it did however decide to bar one candidate from this alliance from running, leading Communist activist Dr. Ofer Cassif who was positioned in the fifth place for this list. In doing so the committee rejected the opinion of Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit who opposed disqualifying any of the lists or candidates submitted by the various political parties last month.

When it comes to Venezuela, it can often seem a distant issue to many working Irish people, even to those of more republican persuasions, but actually what we’re seeing around the world is what we’re seeing today at home. From foreign nations undermining our democracy, organisations meddling in our island’s funds or resources, to media propaganda and military puppeteering. Our small rock on the edge of the Atlantic has seen all of these things in the past and they will define our future if we allow them. Even while peacefully playing the Western capitalists’ game, the Irish people have yet to be gifted the ink by neighbouring empires to write our own destiny.

On Friday, March 8, a march will be held in Haifa to commemorate and express solidarity with International Women’s Day. The march and rally afterwards are being sponsored by The Democratic Women’s Movement of Israel (Tandi) and Hadash – The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality. In the invitation to the public issued by the sponsors, they write that the event will be “spearheaded by the brave women who dare to stand up to injustice and against discrimination and who demand respect, recognition and equality for women.” Participating in the rally will be Lamis Faraj (Tandi), MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash), the head for the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, feminist activist Dror Sadot, Adel Amer, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI); author Lilach Weber, and others.

The suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14, stimulated the conflict between India and Pakistan, leading to cross border shellings and air bombardments. The Communist Parties of the involved countries commented on the escalating tension.

On February 27, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) strongly condemned the ongoing bellicose environ and declared that the escalated frenzy of jingoism is undoubtedly "in the best interest of the religious fanatics and the military establishment, but it has nothing to do with the peoples' well-being of both the countries." Pointing out the socio-economic problems related to the system of savage capitalism, the CPP asserted that this uncalled war madness is a pretext for the military to grab mammoth increase in its budget supplies. The statement continued, "The present so-called elected democratic governments in both the countries are two sides of the same coin. Both playing to the gallery of their dirty political ambition and in larger canvas serving the interests of the imperialist masters and arm dealers." The Party called upon Communist Parties, Progressive and Peace Democracy loving forces on both sides to "unanimously resolve to press upon the rulers and the military establishment in their respective countries to shun away the pursuits of war in lieu of peace, jobs and peoples harmony, diverting all the resources towards the welfare of the people instead of dumping it in fire fodder."

Israel’s attorney general rejected on Tuesday, March 5, three petitions aimed at disqualifying political parties from running in the April elections. Two petitions had been submitted to bar Hadash and Arab parties from contending in the race and one sought to bar far-right racists from joining a right wing merger.

An Israeli military court sentenced 19-year-old soldier Roman Levin to 30 days in prison last Tuesday, February 26, for refusing to continue to serve in the army because of his opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. At the conclusion of his hearing, Levin was taken to Military Prison 6 near Atlit where he is currently incarcerated.

London District Communist Party has called for former Labour MPs who have resigned to join the so called Independent Group to resign their seats and stand in a by-election. Noting that three of the MPs Joan Ryan, Chuka Ummuna, and Mike Gapes represent London constituencies Steve Johnson Secretary of London CPB pointed out that all were elected on a left-wing anti-austerity Labour manifesto which included a commitment to accept the EU referendum result.

Editor’s Note: The interview below of CPUSA chairman John Bachtell was conducted by Peoples Dispatch from India.

Can you make a brief and general assessment of the US shutdown’s impact on the US working class?

A: The economic impact of the 35-day government shut down, the longest ever, was felt deeply by the 800,000 federal government workers, contractors, and millions who depend on the vital services that the government provides. Many workers went without two consecutive paychecks and were forced to borrow money, go to food banks and miss days of work because they just couldn’t afford to pay for transportation. Many subcontractors, including many low paid workers, will not be paid at all for time lost. And small businesses, restaurants and services that rely on federal workers as customers were severely hurt along with their workers.

A prominent Palestinian leftist lawmaker who was imprisoned in Israel without trial was released on Thursday, February 28, after serving 20 months in administrative detention. Khalida Jarrar, a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested on July 2, 2017 and was the 11th member of the Palestinian parliament serving time in prison, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

Far-right Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman has petitioned the Central Elections Committee to ban Hadash candidate Dr. Ofer Cassif from running in the upcoming election. Lieberman argued that “whoever claims that Israel shouldn’t be a Jewish state; who incites against IDF soldiers and says hurting them is not terrorism; and who thinks that Jews who ascend the Temple Mount are a cancer that must be eliminated, cannot sit in the Knesset. He belongs in the parliament in Gaza or Ramallah.”

Israeli forces detained the Palestinian Governor of occupied East Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, on Wednesday morning, February 27, after raiding his home in the village of Silwan just south of the Old City. Israeli intelligence and special forces raided Ghaith’s home and transferred him to the Russian compound police center in West Jerusalem.